Garlic and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Since I started on this Weight Watchers journey, my adventure in the kitchen has been kicked up a notch or two. However, let’s throw something else in the mix. Hubby decided to start doing the Atkins diet. Now how the heck am I supposed to make a dinner that will fit both our diets? That’s the new question which I’ll answer later. Right now I want to tell you about one of my favorite snacks; hummus. It doesn’t matter if it’s original, garlic, olive or black bean, I like them all. But since this has become my go-to snack on the program (baby carrots and hummus rocks), my hummus budget has been blown to bits. So, I decided to make my own Garlic and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

If you’ve been reading awhile, you know how I like to buy some foods in bulk rather then the pre-packaged kind. When it comes to beans, bulk is the way to go. No excess sodium and/or preservatives. Plus, it’s a whole lot cheaper. I invested in a bunch of Tupperware that I bought on eBay so I have lots of containers to hold my bulk foods. I purchased dried garbanzo beans for this hummus recipe, but you can use canned as well. Just know that if you go the dried route, you’ll have to soak them overnight, then cook them. Also, your hummus will be chunkier if you use dried and smoother if you use canned. It’s your choice.

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Garlic and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

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Flavorful and garlicky, this is great as a dip for baby carrots.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried chickpeas (soaked over night, then cooked until soft, drained)
• 2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2-4 Medium cloves garlic (crushed)
• 1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers (packed in water)

Note

You can substitute 2 cans of chick peas instead of soaking the dry beans if there are time constraints.

Directions

Step 1

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. You may need to stop the blender and scrape the sides a time or two due to the thickness of the hummus. Once it's blended to your desired smoothness, cover and refrigerate to chill.

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This is garlicky goodness that I couldn’t get enough of. When I served it, I added some chopped roared red pepper on top and drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil. As you can see, I had my pile of carrots to dip in it and it was another great snack. Hubby hates hummus, so this roasted red pepper hummus was all mine!

If you’re like me and you’re the only one in the household who eats hummus, you will have a lot of hummus from this recipe. If you’re wondering if you can freeze it, the answer is YES. So you can whip this up, keep a quarter or so out in the fridge for this week, then freeze the rest. If you want, put them in small containers so you only take a bit out at a time. Just make sure that whatever container you use, you leave some room in it as hummus expands a bit when frozen. When you’re ready to eat it, defrost it over night in the fridge then give it a good stir as it may separate during the freezing process. You should still have hummus with great flavor once defrosted.

I’m excited to try other versions. This one did not have tahini in it as most traditional hummus’ do, so I’ve gone out and bought some for my nest batch. I’m thinking black olive. What is your favorite hummus flavor?

Like this roasted red pepper hummus? Go follow my Appetizers Pinterest board for more great appetizer and snack ideas.

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